Merkel's visit to Hungary at time of huge political challenges to include Budapest synagogue

FILE - In this May 5, 2011 file photo German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban attend a news conference after a meeting at the chancellery in Berlin. Merkel is traveling to Budapest next week for talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban that come at a time of strain between the two nations, with Orban moving closer to Russia and imposing higher taxes and other burdens on German and other foreign companies operating in the country. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, file) (The Associated Press)

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FILE - In this Oct. 11, 2012 file photo German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban brief the media after talks at the chancellery in Berlin. Merkel is traveling to Budapest next week for talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban that come at a time of strain between the two nations, with Orban moving closer to Russia and imposing higher taxes and other burdens on German and other foreign companies operating in the country. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, file) (The Associated Press)

BUDAPEST, Hungary – German Chancellor Angela Merkel is traveling to Budapest next week for talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban that come at a time of strain between the two nations, with Orban moving closer to Russia and imposing higher taxes and other burdens on German and other foreign companies operating in the country.

During a visit Monday, Merkel will also visit a synagogue, which her spokeswoman said she felt important given Germany's history. It also reflects German concerns at the rise of Hungary's far-right Jobbik party, an anti-Semitic and anti-Roma party that became the second-largest opposition force in parliament in elections last year.

Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert says that "internal political developments in Hungary" would figure in the talks.